Business

Women business owners need to dedicate more time for their goals

CAPE TOWN – Business owners and entrepreneurs everywhere are expected to dedicate the next couple of months working on their business in order to set up for success in 2019.

This is according to Cape Town-based digital entrepreneur and coaching specialist Chanelle Segerius- Bruce as she believes that too many business owners especially women in business aren’t putting the right foundations in place to make for a successful year.

In a financial report by Momentum Corporate in September 2018 shared the same sentiment stating that South African businesses are losing up to R89 billion a year due to distracted employees that are seen to be unproductive.

Bruce states that it is time for experienced entrepreneurs to get ready to advance to the next level, or a business owner to drive your venture forward.

Bruce said: “I find that lots of women I coach spend a lot of their quality time working in their business but dedicate very little time on it, and that’s where problems can arise. To truly move a business forward, you have to view your own business as a client and dive deep into every aspect of it and critique it at every touch point.

Bruce adds that a key component to being successful is to know what you want achieve for the year.

“It also means clearly mapping out monthly milestones of what you want to achieve, your overarching objectives and the strategy needed to move a plan forward. Now that schools are back in full swing, it’s important for mompreneurs, in particular, to take a step back off the wheel of their business and spend quality time planning out their short- and long-term goals so that there’s a clear path for the year ahead."

Here are six tips by Bruce on how to excel in business in 2019:

1.Plan to succeed

Write out a plan - one that specifies your goal – your destination – and then lay a roadmap for how you'll get to where you want to go. The plan will change as you progress and learn more about your customers and competition, but it will still help you stay focused and headed in the right direction.

2. Learn from others

Find a coach, join groups with like-minded people, learn everything you can about your industry and what it takes to get from where you are to where you want to be. Take training courses when they are available. Buy courses offered by experts. You'll save a tremendous amount of trial and error by learning from people who have been there before.

3.Understand the difference between working for yourself and building an ongoing business

If you want to build a business, you need to develop systems and methods that allow you to hire other people to DO the work of the business while you strategise and plan. You limit the potential for growth if you don't bring in other people to work for you.

4. Never stop learning and trying new things.

What's profitable now, won't necessarily be profitable next year or 10 years from now. So, don't let yourself fall into the "this is the way I've always done things" rut. Keep your eyes and ears open for new things. Are there newer or better ways to market your products and services? Are customers asking for something you're not offering? Is there a different type of customer you should be targeting? Get answers by reading everything you can about your industry and listening to your customers.

5. Analyse Your Competition Competition breeds the best results

To be successful, you can't be afraid to study and learn from your competitors. After all, they may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money.

6. Be Creative Always be looking for ways to improve your business and to make it stand out from the competition

Recognize that you don't know everything and be open to new ideas and new approaches to your business.